Samsung is no stranger to huge megapixel resolutions in its smartphone camera sensors, and a new rumor claims that the future Samsung flagship device, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, will have an astonishing increase in megapixel resolution.
Leaker Sanju Choudhary (via Digital Trends) posted on X that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s primary camera could feature a 324-megapixel ISOCELL HR1 sensor. If that’s true, that would immediately make it one of the highest megapixel resolutions available, nearly double the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 200 megapixels.
Additionally, he claims that the phone will come with a 3x telephoto camera with a 50MP sensor. The current flagship Samsung smartphone features a 10MP 3x telephoto camera and a second 50MP periscope telephoto lens, but this lens is rumored to be discontinued on the S25 Ultra.
Choudhary told Digital Trends, “As of now, production has not yet begun. However, sources say development is almost complete.” He added that the Korean company’s ISOCELL division is also working on developing a larger 432MP camera sensor.
In a bit of a leaker-versus-leaker backlash, fairly accurate tipster Jukan Roslave responded to Chaudhry, “Unfortunately, that’s not true.”
In the exchange, they claimed that the S26 Ultra has the same features as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The S25 Ultra will likely retain the same 200MP ultrawide sensor as the S24 Ultra.
This is pretty powerful, and with costs rising, it wouldn’t be surprising if Samsung tries to salvage a few more years from its 200MP sensor. Additionally, there are rumors that Samsung is trying to increase the resolution and improve the quality of photos from the software side rather than the hardware.
The 324-megapixel main camera is probably an overkill, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll catapult Samsung to the top of the best smartphone pile.
This year’s Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of our picks for the best camera phone available, but it goes head-to-head with rivals from Apple and Google, both of which feature 48MP main cameras. However, Samsung devices tend to fall just short. 200 megapixels is ridiculous.
In the 200-photo vs. series, the S24 Ultra lost to both the new iPhone 16 Pro Max and last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max. Similarly, Google’s latest phone outperformed Samsung’s flagship phone when compared to the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. Compared to last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, the contest ended in a tie.
Don’t get me wrong, Samsung makes the Ultra series of phones that camera enthusiasts will have a lot of fun with.
But big numbers aren’t everything.
